A Heart That Hurts
by notjaneausten
Summary: My entry for the 'Mish-Mash' fanfiction / fanart challenge over on USS Caryl. Merle and Daryl arrive back at the prison just in time to save Rick after the Governor's attack. Daryl is more concerned when he thinks that Carol has been gravely injured -what's a girl to do when then man of her dreams sweeps her off her feet? Go along for the ride, of course!
1. Chapter 1

**USUAL DISCLAIMER APPLIES**: I OWN NOTHING FROM TWD; JUST LIKE TO TAKE THEM OUT OF THE BOX FOR A LITTLE WHILE.

The walk back to the prison was long and uncomfortable, both men were covered from head to toe in mud from where they had grappled in the dirt. Neither brother was in a particularly talkative mood which suited Daryl just fine; Merle was still in a state of shock after seeing the horrendous scarring on his brother's back; and Daryl was just in a plain bad mood. It was his decision to return back to where he felt most at home and whether his stupid ass brother followed, well that was up to him.

Merle decided to break the ice first, "So little brother, how far ya think we've got before we reach the deluxe accommodation's waiting for us? I mean, I expect you're little mousey woman will just welcome you back with open arms and a romp on the sheets; but as for me…"

"Jesus shit, shut 'yer cakehole, already! Cain't ya hear that?" Daryl turned around to snap at his elder brother; there was Merle wittering on about something he clearly knew nothing about when Daryl had already heard the sound of distant gunfire coming from the left.

"Cain't hear nuthin' but the beatin' of your poor ole lovestruck heart…" Merle replied sarcastically, and then his head cocked slightly to the side when he heard a far more familiar sound… "Now that, I did hear! C'mon, 'lil brother! If I ain't mistaken that son of a gun has decided ta pay an unexpected call back at the ranch." Merle grabbed Daryl's crossbow from where it was resting against a tree trunk and threw it over to his brother; in a single motion, Daryl snagged it and made it ready.

"Whadja hear, Merle?" Daryl murmured low as both men started to track stealthily but swiftly through the bushes that separated the woods from the prison complex.

"Ole Philip's got a penchant for lettin' bunches of Walkers travel by bus; he lures them inside and lets them out whenever he feels will cause the most damage. From the sounds of that misfiring engine, he's got the old prisoner transport van up and running; it's got one of those backs that drops right down to the ground; forming a nice little ramp for the Walkers to tumble right out of." Merle cocked his head to the side again, listening for the sounds of the engine; he nodded his head in satisfaction when he was proved correct. Daryl didn't doubt him for a minute, if there was one thing his brother knew it was how to tell a vehicle from the sound of the engine. If Merle said that the Governor was about to release a truckload of Walkers into the prison, then he had no reason to doubt him.

The brothers crept closer to the fence line and took a moment to survey the carnage that was going on in the field below. They could see Glenn driving the open back truck through the field, weaving erratically as Michonne balanced on the back slicing her Katana through the air and taking down as many Walkers as she could. Daryl could see Maggie, Beth and Carl up in the courtyard firing down at where the Governor, Shumpert and Martinez were watching from across the stream. The Governor was smiling sardonically at the chaos taking place, that smile slipped momentarily as he watched two bodies falling from Watch Towers three and four – men he had purposely stationed up there to take out as many of the prison complement as he possibly could.

"Time to go, boys." The Governor slipped into the passenger seat of the jeep and slapped the side of the vehicle to indicate he was in a hurry. Shumpert started the engine and they roared off down the gravel road, stopping along the way to pick up Martinez who had emerged from the reeds by the stream.

"What about Grimes?" The Governor turned in his seat to address a smirking Martinez, who was sitting in the backseat checking over his rifle.

"I took a couple of shots at him but he's as slippery as an eel. Don't worry though, last time I saw him he was outta bullets and surrounded by Walkers….on the other side of the gate. There ain't no way he's gonna make it back through to the others."

"Good work Martinez, very good. We'll meet up with the others on the road and then decide what our next course of action will be. I think a return visit's in order, don't you?" The Governor reached up to adjust his eye patch, rubbing a finger around the socket. "Yes, I still have a little score to settle with a certain lady…" The other two occupants in the car shared a brief look of disbelief in the rear view mirror, but both knew better than to disagree with the man calling the shots.

"Yes, sir."


	2. Chapter 2

Rick panted heavily as he struggled to catch his breath; he was penned in from both sides by snarling Walkers, out of bullets and down to using only his small knife. Keeping his back pressed against the chain link fence, he used the barrel of his spent pistol on the head of one Walker at the same time as jabbing the blade of his knife through the eye socket of another.

"Two down, ninety-eight to go…" He muttered as he tried to wrestle the knife blade out from the fallen Walker. Just then he caught side of something he never thought he'd see again; the familiar yellow and blade feathers from a bolt protruding from a Walker just about to take a chunk out of his leg.

"I…er…I." Rick was in a state of shock; he had been seconds away from becoming one of the hunted and once again, Daryl had come to the rescue.

"Ya can thank me later. Merle! Head fer the gate!" Daryl bent down to extract the used bolt from the body at Rick's feet and wiped the grime across the leg of his pants. "Here, looks like ya could use this," He handed Rick a larger knife from his belt and the two of them worked back to back, making their way around to where Merle was single handily clearing a path to the gate.

"Wait! Has anyone seen Hershel? He was just the other side of the fence, near where the water lines feed into the prison." Rick looked around anxiously for the older man, he knew that Hershel only had a few bullets in his old handgun and couldn't have made a run for it.

"Relax Officer Friendly, saw the Chinaman pick up the farmer in the truck when ole 'Chonne was loping off the heads of everythin' in sight. C'mon now, this gate ain't gonna hold itself open all day." Merle was forcibly holding the two sides of the gates apart long enough for the three of them to slip through; once he knew they were all inside he let the sides drop against each other and twisted a length of wire through as a temporary measure. "That's gonna hold 'em back fer now, but it ain't gonna last too long if they start herdin' again." Rick looked over at the destruction of the once secure base and then back between the two men; he shook his head slowly.

"I don't even know where to start…what I would have done if the two of you hadn't shown up in time…I just…" Rick stopped, not even knowing how to express his gratitude enough, he remembered how Merle and Daryl had tried to explain Merle's actions at Woodbury and how he hadn't wanted to listen, now he thought he'd better start.

"Look Rick, let's just leave the past alone alright? Merle and I'll stick around fer a bit, help y'all clean up a little and we'll see how things go from there." Daryl made the suggestion after seeing how uncomfortable Merle was getting with Rick's praise.

"Okay, but I think there might be one or two people that are gonna be mighty happy to see you." Rick murmured, catching sight of Beth running down the gravel path, trying to keep up with a now toddling Judith.

"Dar! Dar!" Judith nearly tumbled over in her efforts to reach up to Daryl and Merle bit back a choke of laughter at the sight of his tough brother nearly melting at the sight of the little one's tears.

"Hey, lil' pumpkin! Didja miss yer Uncle Daryl? Tears from my best girl…aw now, hush up lil' asskicker." Daryl passed his crossbow over to his brother and scooped the tearful toddler up into his arms.

"Something tells me that she missed you…a lot. Kinda like someone else I know…" Rick murmured as he watched his little girl snuggled into the hunter's arms; he still felt a little jealous that Judith always seemed to prefer Daryl's company to his own. Every morning she would wake up as soon as she heard Daryl creeping down the metal stairs from his perch, and would start howling if he didn't pop his head into her cell to take her out to the kitchen with him. The few days that Daryl had been gone, she had been nearly inconsolable; seeking solace from the only other person that seemed to feel his absence as much as she…Carol.

"Never thought I'd see ma lil' brother so taken with a rug rat…one that even his own…" Merle didn't even notice Maggie and Michonne walking down the fenced in corridor to meet them until he heard Maggie's quiet remark.

"That's what people do who love you. They put their arms around you and love you when you're not so lovable." Maggie stepped up to wrap her arms around Merle; squeezing him tight. "I never got to thank you for what you did for me back in Woodbury, so thank you. And thanks for bringing him back, we need him." She stepped back and realised that she was crying, again. She had been like a non-stop watering pot ever since they had come back; even more so when she ached for what Carol must have been going through, at least her man had returned back with her.

"I ain't so lovable, lil' Daryl here; he seems ta be the sweet one." Merle's face reddened and he shifted to his feet uncomfortably.

"Merle…take it from me, you may not be the best judge of character; but for what you did for not only me and Glenn, but for Daryl too…trust me, I'd want you at my back every time." Maggie touched Merle lightly on the arm again and then turned to face Daryl. "Daryl, don't be shocked when you see Carol, there was a lot of blood…" Before she could even explain that it wasn't even Carol's blood, Daryl had passed Judith off to her father and was racing back up to the courtyard, calling out Carol's name.


	3. Chapter 3

"Carol!" Daryl's heart was pounding, Maggie said a lot of blood. Had she been shot, stabbed….bit?_ Please don't let her have been bitten! _He came to a standstill in the middle of the courtyard when he saw her coming out of the cell block, torso drenching in the sticky liquid with blood spatters over her cheek and arms. He raced toward her and grabbed her arms as he started to check for injuries.

"Daryl? What…? When…?" Carol was having trouble formulating a complete sentence, the last time she had seen Daryl he'd been heading off to Woodbury on a rescue mission. The next day, Rick had told her that he was not coming back to the prison and now he was running his hands all over her as though she was going to disappear.

"Ya gotta tell me where yer hurt, baby. I can't help unless I know what's wrong." Daryl ran his hands down the length of her arms, checking for miniscule scrapes and tell-tale scratches. Carol was still trying to decide whether she had really heard him call her 'baby' or whether it was some hallucination brought on from seeing her friend killed right in front of her.

"I'm not hurt." Carol said, but Daryl continued his examination; running his rag down the side of her face, wiping off all traces of blood and then running his hands through her short, grey hair; checking for any signs of a head injury. His hands came back with traces of blood on them and he made a swift decision.

"I think ya must be in shock, I'd better get ya in ta lie down. Hang on ta me, baby; takin' ya fer a little ride." Daryl frowned at Carol's remark; she must be in so much pain that she was blocking it all out. He scooped her up in his arms and strode into the cellblock; just as Rick and the others entered the upper courtyard to watch his actions.

"Somethin' wrong with lil' mouse? Daryl's gonna be mighty fretful, only reason he wanted ta come back was cause of her." Merle frowned anxiously after the retreating figure of his brother, carrying Carol so carefully into the cells.

"Nah, she was standing right next to Axel when he was shot in the head. That's his blood all over her, she ain't hurt at all." Maggie chuckled as she could hear Carol protesting to Daryl that she wasn't hurt and his quiet responses that it was all gonna be okay now he was back.

"I guess she's just settled in to enjoy the ride!" Michonne remarked as she wiped off her Katana blade, before sheathing the weapon. They all chuckled as after sharing a brief glance, decided to enter the block quietly to see what would happen next.

"We need ta get this shirt off ya, so I can see where the blood's comin' from." Daryl muttered as he carefully lay Carol down onto the mattress in her cell.

"You just want to get me out of my clothes," Carol grinned up at him, if Daryl wouldn't take her word for it that she wasn't hurt, then she would just have to show him instead.

"How can you even make a joke at a time like this? Ya could be bleedin' ta death, and…." Daryl stopped talking and closed his eyes, his face deathly pale with worry. Carol decided it was time to come clean and make him believe once and for all that she didn't have a scratch on her. She rose up from the cot and stood directly in front of him. Taking one of his hands, she placed it directly over her heart.

"Daryl, this is the only place where I hurt." Daryl's eyes flickered open and he saw the moisture form in Carol's eyes, making them shine like moonlight over deep water.

"Tell me," He whispered softly, he could take whatever it was; he was strong enough to believe that even in death they could never be truly parted.

"This blood?" Carol swept her free hand over her body, "It's not even mine; Axel was standing right beside me when one of the Governor's men shot him right in this head – this is Axel's blood. He saved me."

"You're really okay? Not scratched or hurt or anything?" Daryl blinked hard, trying to keep his eyes from watering up.

"My heart hurts, Daryl. When you left I just shut down; it felt like my heart had stopped beating for good…" Carol pressed his hand closer to her heart, hoping that he could feel the rapid thumping beneath his fingertips. "It only started beating again when I saw you taking out those Walkers to protect Rick. You came back to us, and if you were to leave again…well, I think it might stop beating for good." Silent tears slipped from Carol's eyes as she saw the disbelief on Daryl's face; she let her hand slip away from where it was holding his in place and went to turn away.

She was suddenly pulled back around to face him, but this time it was her hand trapped against his heart and she could feel the rapid rhythm beneath her palm.

"Feel that, woman? That's how my heart beats whenever you're near me. Sometimes I think it's gonna beat right outta ma chest. My Ma told me something once, she said '_the greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually be afraid to make one.'_ That's why I left with Merle – I didn't want to make a mistake with you, ruin everything we already have by makin' a fool outta myself if ya didn't feel tha same way. Do ya, Carol? Do ya feel tha same way?" It was the longest speech Daryl had ever made in his life, and now he held his breath hoping for his secret desires to become reality.

"Why don't you help me out of these dirty clothes, and we'll find out?" Carol whispered as she reached up to press a soft and gentle whisper of a kiss against his lips.

Merle smirked at the others as Daryl wrapped one arm around Carol's waist and with the other pulled the curtain across Carol's cell door. "Guess my lil' brother didn't need his freedom after all."

"Freedom is a state of mind," Michonne remarked in a distant tone, "You are young grasshopper, with much still to learn." Everyone laughed as Merle placed his hand against his bladed prosthetic and bowed his head.

"Yes, Master."

"Everyone clear outta here! Cain't ya hear that I'm tryin' ta make up with ma woman up here!" Daryl's strident tone calling down from the second level just made everyone chuckle, even more so when they heard Carol's response.

"What are your thoughts on a little bondage?" There was a scurry of footsteps leaving the lower level and a shirtless Daryl peered his head through the curtain and then winked over at Carol.

"That sure cleared the place out quick enough! Now, where were we…?"


End file.
